Titles and names are a hot commodity.
I learned this about five years when I discovered that the great title I'd chosen for my suspense novel had already been taken...several times: Safe Haven.
In order to stand out, I sure didn't want to use my now-taken title.
It really irked me that somebody took my title, especially when Safe Haven was the perfect title for a female character named Haven who was hiding from a bad guy and found the safe haven in a small mountain cabin. Perfect, don't you think. A double entendre.
With great sadness, I bid farewell to my beloved title and changed it to...
Valley of Elah.
You see, the main character fights off her antagonist in much the same way that little David did when he faced Goliath.
But that title proved unreliable too.
Sorry, already taken. More than once.
Rats.
So I changed it again to a title I hope nobody will grab before my future publisher can put my story out in the public arena.
I hear domain names can be a problem, too.
Fortunately, I didn't have a problem when I set up my domain. There's only one Dena Netherton out there.
Me.
I recently read a friend's published book. It's a wonderful mystery.
But there are already two other novels by the same title.
Gosh, it's a marketing challenge when your title is hard to distinguish from another book.
I used to hate my name: Dena
Why couldn't I have had a more romantic, lyrical name like Miranda, or Rosalie or Desiree?
No, just Dena. Short, like me, and not particularly memorable, like me, too.
However, there is One who knows my name as unique from all others.
Not that I'm any greater or more important than an other.
Just that He can easily distinguish me from all other humans who have or will ever live.
My Jesus.
Scripture says that my name is engraved on His hand.
The same hand that bore the agony of spikes being driven through them, also bears my name.
Chiseled there by my repentance and invitation, for all eternity.
Amazing.
I can understand this, in a small way.
Because I love my three children enough to die for them.
I love them each with equal intensity.
Yet I love them differently.
Because they are different and distinct.
I could never get one confused with the other.
Something to consider when we feel overlooked, indistinct, un-memorable.
God, Himself has chosen my name and title. It will not be taken by another.
"Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have not compassion on the child she has borne?
Though she may forget, I will not forget you!
See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands, your walls are ever before me."
(Is. 49:15,16 NIV Bible)
I learned this about five years when I discovered that the great title I'd chosen for my suspense novel had already been taken...several times: Safe Haven.
In order to stand out, I sure didn't want to use my now-taken title.
It really irked me that somebody took my title, especially when Safe Haven was the perfect title for a female character named Haven who was hiding from a bad guy and found the safe haven in a small mountain cabin. Perfect, don't you think. A double entendre.
With great sadness, I bid farewell to my beloved title and changed it to...
Valley of Elah.
You see, the main character fights off her antagonist in much the same way that little David did when he faced Goliath.
But that title proved unreliable too.
Sorry, already taken. More than once.
Rats.
So I changed it again to a title I hope nobody will grab before my future publisher can put my story out in the public arena.
I hear domain names can be a problem, too.
Fortunately, I didn't have a problem when I set up my domain. There's only one Dena Netherton out there.
Me.
I recently read a friend's published book. It's a wonderful mystery.
But there are already two other novels by the same title.
Gosh, it's a marketing challenge when your title is hard to distinguish from another book.
I used to hate my name: Dena
Why couldn't I have had a more romantic, lyrical name like Miranda, or Rosalie or Desiree?
No, just Dena. Short, like me, and not particularly memorable, like me, too.
However, there is One who knows my name as unique from all others.
Not that I'm any greater or more important than an other.
Just that He can easily distinguish me from all other humans who have or will ever live.
My Jesus.
Scripture says that my name is engraved on His hand.
The same hand that bore the agony of spikes being driven through them, also bears my name.
Chiseled there by my repentance and invitation, for all eternity.
Amazing.
I can understand this, in a small way.
Because I love my three children enough to die for them.
I love them each with equal intensity.
Yet I love them differently.
Because they are different and distinct.
I could never get one confused with the other.
Something to consider when we feel overlooked, indistinct, un-memorable.
God, Himself has chosen my name and title. It will not be taken by another.
"Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have not compassion on the child she has borne?
Though she may forget, I will not forget you!
See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands, your walls are ever before me."
(Is. 49:15,16 NIV Bible)
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